WHY A GIRL CANNOT PLAY TENNIS.

The Student indulges in the following scientific explanation as to "why a girl cannot play tennis": "The first difficulty is found in grasping the racket. This is due to the fact that in the female hand a layer of adipose tissue makes the hand too rounded firmly to hold the handle. Consequently, if a ball strikes the side of the racket, the racket turns and the ball bounds at a right angle to the line by which it came. This effect is heightened by a quick out ward swing of the hand, caused by the small development of the os lunare. The female arm differs from the male arm, also, in that the ulna of the female is much shorter proportionately than that of the male. On this account the female cannot hold the racket on a line with the arm, but necessarily at a large angle with the arm. Accordingly when the ball is returned the action of the arm tends to knock it sideways. This peculiarity is especially noticeable in returning swift balls.

In the female the articulation of the humorous with the ulna and radius is imperfect, thus causing a constant angle at the elbow. When, therefore, the racket hits a ball, it tends to knock it high up in the air. Some have said that this defect is the chief in causing the female to be a poor tennis player. The smallness of her ribs, thinness of the scapula, and shortness of the clavicle unite to prevent her from reaching high balls. These defects, together with the unusually large size of the triceps extensor muscle, make it hard for the female to serve successfully. Were it not for these anatomical peculiarities of the female, she would doubtless far surpass the male at tennis. She can run faster, see more quickly, and is not so easily confused. But the scientific fact remains that tennis is not a game for the human female. The game of parlor croquet is best adapted to the peculiar construction of her bones."